News is information about recent events that are significant to a particular society. Generally, it is about people but can also be about things that are important to humanity as a whole, such as natural disasters, war, political upheaval and business successes. News is often accompanied by opinions from experts or ordinary people, and may be a mixture of hard news and soft news (e.g. a fire at a house versus an in-depth news piece that examines how the fire might have been avoided).
In some societies, what is considered to be important enough to report as news will differ from one country to the next, but there are global norms for the types of events that are considered to be newsworthy. A free press is considered to be essential for democracy, but this can only work if the journalists who make up that press are impartial and do not allow themselves to be swayed by the government of the day.
A good News story should be brief so that readers can read it, clear so that they understand it and picturesque so that they will remember it. It should also be accurate, as false information can lead to mistrust.
The most important factor in determining whether something is News is its impact. This can be influenced by how many people are affected, whether it is close to home, whether it is controversial or whether a famous person is involved.